Second Thoughts
by PandratheFirst
Summary: It's too quiet one night on the Argo II, and Leo gets spooked by an unwanted guest. They offer the crew a glimpse of their futures. (Concentrated on a Percico dream. Then later there are couples making out (couples NOT Percico)) I will post more!
1. Chapter 1

The Argo II flew through over the clouds. Beneath the decks Leo could feel the gears and cogs moving as they should, slowly urging them toward Greece. Above him, stars and a half moon shone bright. The wind encouraged them east.

No one was on watch, each hidden away in their respective cabins, dreaming of prophecies and destinies.

The night was still.

For once Leo stood will out moving a muscle, listening, waiting, for something to happen. How could it be this quiet? He hesitantly placed one foot in front of the other, as he took the largest hammer he could summon from the tool belt. His half-blood senses were tingling.

"I know someone's there!" He shouted.

Silence permeated the night. He lifted the hammer and brought fire to his other hand.

"Come out!"

Festus snorted as he turned his head to him. Leo slowly lowered the hammer but kept his palm lit. He sighed.

"I don't know Festus, maybe this quest is making me paranoid. Tio Leo needs a siesta. Especially since he's talking to a mechanical dragon in third person."

"I agree."

"Crud." Leo'd jinxed it. He whirled around blazing fire and swinging the hammer, but they caught it midair and simply tossed it aside. With their other hand they stopped his left fist. They held it above his head as the flames were slowly engulfed.

"Crud." Leo repeated.

The figure was tall and hooded, obscuring their face. The cloak was shifting and swirling black and white, mixing and separating.

Leo tried to wrench his hand away. But they just squeezed harder.

"The gods would condemn me to Tartarus if they knew it was I who intervened with their chess game. So, I was never here." The voice was genderless, disguised as much as the rest of them. They raised a finger to the emptiness of their hood, like they were telling Leo to shush.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Stupid Leo! Shout for help, you idiot demigod! But that was all that escaped his lips, like this god or goddess wanted him to ask it.

I am someone who is tired of seeing other gods laugh at the mortals who provide their amusement. Your hopes, your dreams, your love, your FATE."

Amen to that, Leo thought. They release Leo's hand.

"I want to offer you... Clarity."

Hooray for the dramatic pause. "Great! Are you going to tell us what the prophecy means?"

The figure waved a hand like the Great Prophecy, the words that had controlled his entire life and his mother's death, meant nothing.

"Good always triumphs over evil. No, I am here to spare the Seven from the mismatched future that is before you."

"Huh?"

"Specifically the two on a path of heartbreak and sorrow. And to assure those of you who are on the correct paths. I am here to offer you..."

Holy Hades, this immortal loved the dramatic pauses.

"Your other halves. Remember them. Fight for them. And know that love comes in many forms and follows many roads."

The figure lifted a hand and placed it on his forehead. Leo's vision faded out.

* * *

Percy was back in the Styx. The boiling pain seared his flesh, and entered him mind. His past began leaving him. His mother, Grover, Chiron, Annabeth, Luke, Tyson, Thalia, Bianca, Paul, the Battle for Olympus, Hazel, Frank, Jason, Piper and Leo. All of them whispered familiar words in his ear, and then the memories melted away. The river began to tug his soul away from his body.

PERCY, someone shouted from above the water. Concentrate on your mortal point!

Something kept him from being swept down the river. A firm grip on the back of his shirt.

Suddenly Annabeth stood in front of him on the end of the rickety old pier in the lake of Camp Halfblood. She was smiling, and bent down on the edge of the pier to help him out.

Annabeth wore her Yankee's cap, which should have made her invisible.

"You are such an idiot sometimes!" She said laughing. She retracted the hand she had offered to help him out of the water to her Yankees cap.

Annabeth's figure flickered like bad reception.

"You are such an idiot sometimes!" She repeated. This time it seemed dull and orchestrated, like a line from a bad movie.

She took off the hat.

"You are such an idiot sometimes!"

This time the voice wasn't Annabeth's. Instead of blond hair tumbling from the confines of the hat, short dark brown curls fell into dark eyes.

"You are such an idiot sometimes!" It was a boy's.

The boy slowly melted into existence, beginning from the top of Annabeth's image and revealed the person underneath. An aviator's jacket, skull t-shirt, and a skull ring.

He gripped Percy's hand and hauled him out of the water. Olive skin mixed with light tan and lithe muscled arms. He had faded rings under his warm brown eyes. They glittered with his smile. He was gorgeous.

Nico?

* * *

Percy threw himself out of bed. He didn't know why, but he needed to find Annabeth. He swung open the door and immediately turned around.

"Whoa! Guys!"

Jason and Piper were making out in front of her room. Piper giggled as Jason's fingers found the bottom of her shirt and she found his."

"Real happy for you guys, BUT THERE'S A ROOM RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"

Jason and Piper stumbled in still locked at the lips and slammed the door behind them. There was a loud thunk against the door.

Percy rolled his eyes as he turned left to Annabeth's room, but almost ran into Frank and Hazel, kissing passionately with their arms wrapped around each other.

"Seriously! Get a room!"

Frank leapt back and looked like he wanted to turn into a sheep. Hazel grabbed his wrist and led him into his bedroom.

"What is with everyone?"

Percy ran the couple of steps to Annabeth's room.

"Annabeth?!"

"I'm up here!" Her voice was coming from on deck.

He bolted up the stairs, and saw Annabeth kneeling next to a melancholy Leo.

"What happened and why are there four people going at it below decks?"

Annabeth was patting Leo's back. "I'm not sure. Leo says that a hooded god appeared and didn't want to kill/sacrifice any of us. But he has yet to finish."

Percy sat down next to them. Annabeth kept her gaze fully on Leo.

"Come on Leo, what happened next?" Annabeth coaxed.

"Um... So a hooded figure appeared, swirling cloak in black and white. And it said it wanted to help us.

"It?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, I think was a god or a goddess. They said if the gods knew they had come they would be condemned to Tartarus. It said it wanted to give us clarity."

"About the prophecy." Annabeth guessed.

Leo shook his head and continued. "They said that they were tired of the other gods using us as amusements and they were going to offer us our second halves. And that we have to fight for them and know that love comes in many forms and follows many roads." As he finished he looked at Annabeth for an explanation and Percy followed his gaze.

Her jaw had fallen open and her eyes were slowly widening. Finally she snapped her jaw shut and glared at Leo. "No! That can't be it! You're lying!" She shouted at Leo and shoved him backwards so he landed on his back.

The son of Hephaestus cringed. "I'm not!"

"Annabeth! What is it?!" Percy grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. She met his eyes for a moment then tore her eyes away. He cheeks burned.

"Plato. Plato said in the Symposium, that according to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms and four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate beings, condemning them to spend their lives in search for their other halves. Of course none of that really happened, but that's not the point. The idea of a second halve is the ancient Greek version of a soul mate."

Percy's brow furrowed. He looked away from Annabeth to the floor of the deck.

"That's what they revealed to us... But, Percy." She looked up at him and he met her eyes. "I didn't dream about you."

Percy released her shoulders.

"I did... But you turned into..." Nico? No he wasn't going to say that. "Someone else."

Calm swallowed up the early morning, like everything knew better than to make a sound.


	2. Chapter 2: The Second Halves

Reyna glowered into the flames. The fawn- Coach Hedge- had woken her up to keep watch what seemed like an eternity ago, which, in reality, had only been thirty-seven minutes.

They had to be somewhere in France, she decided. She had walked a short distance from the campsite earlier, and seen a couple of road signs. They weren't in Spanish, and judging by the spelling, it seemed probable that they were now in France.

The air was cold, but the cold she knew was fleeting, like every summer night in California.

Left to the fire, the coach bleated in his sleep and turned on his side. Behind him, the proud Athena Parthenos seemed to glare at her, cursing her and all Romans for her plight, especially Bellona.

She shifted her back to the statue.

On the right, Nico di Angelo slept with his back to her, legs tucked up to his chest.

He had collapsed as soon as she had untied him from the statue, not even waiting for Coach Hedge's cucumber and jelly sandwiches. Understandable, since the Coach wasn't exactly a gourmet chef.

Reyna stared at the back of his head, conjuring his face in her mind. He was so tortured for someone so young. Dark lines showed his typical lack of sleep and his faintly emaciated features. His irises were so brown they were practically black. And though he couldn't have been younger than fourteen, his eyes were from another age.

She had never really asked who he was aside from his godly parentage, and why the hell he had the right to come and go as he pleased. It hadn't been necessary at the time, for Jason had been missing, and there had been a huge surge of demigods entering the camp that no one could explain.

"No!"

Reyna jerked her eyes open. She'd almost fallen asleep, but a soft cry had permeated the darkness and the relative silence the trees provided.

Nico was trembling, quivering ever so slightly. Reyna slowly rose from her stump and approached him.

"NO!" he cried, much louder this time.

She flinched back.

"No. Don't- don't let-!"

"Di Angelo." As she spoke she kneeled next to him and touched his shoulder.

"Don't let go!"

"DI ANGELO." She shook him.

"PERCY!"

"NICO!" Reyna screamed.

Nico jolted upright. His eyes were blood-shot and desperate, his breathing heavy.

"Nico." Sighing in relief, she placed a hand on his thin back. "It was just a dream."

He tried to control his breathing, which only served to make it ragged, uneven.

"...Yeah. Just a dream," he agreed.

Reyna retracted her hand and sat down next to Nico. He tensed.

"Do you need to talk about it?" She asked, bracing herself. She had never been good at dealing with other people's feelings, just at controlling her own.

"_No_," he snapped.

"Okay, okay. Are you alright? That dream seemed intense."

He hesitated a second before insisting he was indeed, fine.

"Okay." She pushed herself up and walked back to her stump.

Nico's breathing became more even. He closed his eyes and dropped his head in his hands. He examined her out of the corner of his eye and Reyna pretended not to notice.

"Can I ask you a question?" Nico said cautiously. "And can you not ask my why I'm asking?"

She glanced at him. "That depends on the question."

"Then nevermind." Nico zipped his jacket up under his chin.

The wind softly rustled the leaves. Some strands of hair from her bangs fell in her face and Reyna raised a hand to push them behind her ear. Her braid hung over her left shoulder and had begun to come undone, so she pulled the hair tie out, running her fingers through to comb it as much as possible.

"You know what?" Nico declared, throwing his hands up in complete frustration and then brought his fists down on his knees.

Reyna stopped combing her hair to look up at him from her messy locks.

"I'm done with being afraid of what you might think of me, I'm asking anyway." He paused, searching for the correct words.

"How... How can I get over... um... Having a, uh..." He inhaled deeply before continuing in a rush: "Having a crush on someone who I know doesn't like me back?"

Reyna smiled in amusement at the complete idiocy that _this_ was the question that he was asking. Then, after a couple of seconds of searching for an answer, her thoughts drifted to blond hair and blue eyes, and she found she didn't have one, and the smile faded.

Percy. Nico had shouted for Percy.

He was staring intently at her, and she met his eyes.

"I'll let you know when I figure it out." She pursed her lips and went back to braiding her hair.

"How long have you known you would never be together? Nico whispered after several minutes.

"I would, uh, rather not talk about it." Reyna said as she tied off the end of the braid. She leaned closer to the fire and rubbed her arms through her jacket.

"The Argo II, huh?"

Reyna let out a shaky exhale, trying to subdue any loose strands of emotions. "No, I had known long before them. -Then-" She corrected quickly. "Long before then. You?"

Nico crossed his arms over his chest. "Always."

"So... Jackson, huh?

Nico tensed.

"It's okay, I have a sister who's an Amazon. It basically implies bisexuality."

He still didn't relax. "How did you _know_."

"You screamed his name in your dream."

He ran his fingers through his bangs, letting his forehead rest on his palm. "Who was it for you?"

Reyna thought about lying, or just refusing to answer, but it didn't seem fair that she knew his secrets. "Jason."

Nico snorted. "Of course it's him."

Reyna almost smiled. "I could say the same thing to you Di Angelo."

He grinned, but it faded after a second. Nico's eyes followed the sparks of the fire into the night sky and as they winked out of existence, his eyes resting on the Athena Parthenos.

"Do you wonder why we weren't chosen? To be in the seven. Why was it Hazel, Leo, Frank, Jason and Percy, and not _us_?"

She liked how he said 'us' and 'we' instead of just 'you' and 'I', like they weren't alone in their frustrations.

"I don't know. Hazel was chosen, so why not you, right? I can fight just as well as Frank and Jason, even without the flying and lightning and shape shifting. I think it all comes back to the gods love theatrics, and, they love to play favorites."

Suddenly, Nico got up, and sliced his sword through the fire sending sparks and flecks of wood flying.

Reyna flinched.

The black sword went flying off into the night, and Nico screamed at the top of his lungs. His hands clawed in his hair.

Coach Hedge snored once and scratched his furry hindquarters, but remained asleep.

"I'm so FREAKING tired of my life being controlled by a bunch of gods who think they know me! My father used me to try and control a prophecy! My SISTER died because of a stupid quest! And I run because of-!" He cut himself off.

"And I try to get her back, and _everyone_ tells me it's wrong! Even Bianca! And she didn't even know why I _needed_ her back!

"-THEN I help save Olympus and WHAT'S my reward? I get to watch as- as..." Nico's voice stuttered to a halt as his shoulders fell. Then he threw his hands in the air and started pacing as he continued ranting.

"THEN he just VANISHES off the face of the Earth, and when I find him, all he remembers is HER! And I get stuck in a stupid _JAR_!

"NOW they want me to lug a damn statue across the Atlantic to save their butts! And it's not like we're going to be 'the Heroes of Olympus' or anything! No! _That_ stupid title is going to the 'seven perfect children' and we're just going to have to just watch as they live their stupid perfect lives and we get nothing!" He finally collapsed back in his spot to her right, breathing heavily.

Reyna studied Nico. She noticed how he a just flown right past any mention of Tartarus.

After a minute or two of the silence, she spoke. "You're _right_ it's not fair. The gods need to get their heads out of their asses and see that."

Nico's eyebrows flew up as he glanced at her.

She leaned forward placed a hand on his. "But think about it Nico. We aren't doing this for the gods. We're doing this for who we love, Hazel and Camp Jupiter and..." She sighed. "You know. If we love them this much, then maybe one day-"

"Don't even go there." Nico pushed away her hand and pointed a finger accusingly at her face. "There is no way they could ever love us." Nico lowered his hand, staring at her, and daring her to challenge him.

She glared at Nico. Reyna got the feeling he wasn't including Jason in that sentence. "I was going to _say_, that if we love them this much, then maybe one day someone will love us as much as we do them."

At this Nico lowered his gaze. Then he got up abruptly and said "I'm going to get more firewood." His voice broke at the end of the sentence.


End file.
